University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
West Virginia
No. 25 Panthers Defeat Two EWL Opponents
2/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 14, 2000
PITTSBURGH - The 25th-ranked Pittsburgh wrestling team completed the week with two big wins over Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) foes including a 33-6 victory over Clarion and a 20-14 upset at 17th-ranked West Virginia. Also highlighting the week was junior Nick Mengerink's (Upper Sandusky, Ohio/Carey) 100th career victory, making him just the 10th Panther in school history to reach the century mark.
The Panthers hosted Clarion on Feb. 10 and began the evening by claiming the first four bouts. Redshirt freshman Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) won a 5-3 decision over Clarion's Shane McChasney at 165 pounds to put Pittsburgh on the board first. Mengerink, ranked 14th in the country, earned a close 5-4 decision over Brad Harris in the 174-pound match, before Fabian Sciullo (West Mifflin, Pa./Central Catholic) added a 6-1 decision at 184 pounds to give the Panthers a 9-0 lead.
Sophomore Dan Stine (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) won the 197-pound match with an 8-3 decision over the Golden Eagles' Joe Rendos. Heavyweight Matt Mueller (North Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) then took 20th-ranked John Testa into overtime with a last second escape that tied the match at 8-8, but was pinned at the 7:27 mark, making the team score 12-6.
Pittsburgh sophomore Zach Hasse (Washington, W.Va./Parkersburg South) claimed his third major decision and his first dual victory of the season, 13-4, over Clarion's Mike Snyder at 125 pounds. Junior Rob Loper (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) then earned a technical fall (21-6, 6:42) at 133 pounds with six near fall points and sophomore Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area) won 141 pounds by forfeit to put the Panthers up 27-6 to help clinch the win for Pittsburgh.
Freshman Justin Giovinco (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and senior Mike Ziska (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) wrapped up the match for the Panthers with victories at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively, for the final score.
Pittsburgh then traveled to rival West Virginia and handed the Mountaineers their first EWL loss of the season. The match came down to the final bout between Stine and West Virginia's Martius Harding, with the score 17-14 in favor of the Panthers. Stine defeated Harding in a 4-1 decision, giving Pittsburgh its sixth- straight victory on the season and its second-straight upset over the Mountaineers.
West Virginia won the first two matches of the evening, starting with fourth-ranked Sean Hage's 14-1 major decision of Mueller at heavyweight, before the Panthers rallied for three straight victories. Loper won his 13th- straight match in a major decision over 13th-ranked Bob Patnesky, 8-0. Loper remains the only Panther undefeated in dual matches with a perfect record of 14-0. Mucci then claimed 141 pounds with another major decision, 10-2, and Giovinco upset 20th-ranked Billy Smith, 5-4, at 149 pounds.
Ziska lost to 15th-ranked Joe Carr, 5-3, before Fronhofer claimed 165 pounds (6-1). Mengerink followed up with his 100th victory, a 3-0 decision over Erik Warg. Second-ranked Vertus Jones of West Virginia won a technical fall over Sciullo to set up the comeback attempt for the Moutaineers heading into final bout.
Pittsburgh improves to 9-5 overall and 4-2 in the EWL. The Panthers conclude the regular season when they host 7th-ranked Edinboro in a league matchup at Fitzgerald Field House on Feb. 17 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
